Education

District Summary

The School District of South Orange and Maplewood serves more than 6,800 students in nine schools, including six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. The community and its schools are racially and economically diverse with more than 90 percent of Columbia High School graduates planning to attend college each year.

The district’s vision is to be the top-performing diverse suburban school district in the nation. Its mission is to provide an excellent education for each and every student by providing them with rigorous academic opportunities to reach their personal college and career aspirations, including providing supports for struggling students to succeed. The district will provide an equitable education that breaks the links between demographics and academic achievement. The district will educate its students to be responsible and productive members of society at large: caring, collaborative and ethical people; critical thinkers and problem solvers; effective writers and speakers; and lifelong learners.
Enrollment
As of October 15, 2015 there were a total of 6,879 students enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 as follows:
Columbia High School – 1893 Maplewood Middle School – 768South Orange Middle School – 801Clinton Elementary School – 565Jefferson Elementary School - 496Marshall Elementary School -534Montrose Elementary School* - 54Seth Boyden Elementary School - 521South Mountain Elementary School - 607Tuscan Elementary School - 640*Opened in the 2015-2016 school year

Faculty/Student Ratio
There is approximately one faculty member for each 10.6 students. The state average is 1/11.1. This includes faculty specializing in art, music, health, physical education, enrichment, media, reading, guidance, resource room, special education and those making up the child study teams.

One of the country’s leading Catholic universities, Seton Hall University has been developing students in mind, heart and spirit since 1856. Home to nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and offering more than 90 rigorous majors, Seton Hall’s academic excellence has been singled out for distinction by The Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report and Bloomberg Businessweek. Seton Hall's 58-acre main campus is located in the quaint town of South Orange, New Jersey, only 14 miles from Manhattan. The University’s nationally-ranked School of Law is located in nearby Newark, New Jersey.

History:

Founded: 1856 by Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley

Namesake: Elizabeth Ann Seton, first American-born saint

Affiliation: Catholic, one of the oldest diocesan universities in the U.S., under the Archdiocese of Newark